THANK YOU to everyone who has given to help send Meagan to Africa so she can take care of the orphans there! We’re 10 percent of the way there and I’d love for you to give! I’m only asking for $10. That’s it. Check out the details here!

Do you believe in soulmates?

You know, that person who is meant to be with you forever and for all time and always love your morning breath? That person who will know that you take your pancake syrup on the side, who loves the tiny mole on your foot and who makes you laugh with their awkward dance moves?

Well, I’m here to tell ya. There IS a “The One,” at least when it comes to yard sale finds. I know, because I found my The One(s) at recent yard sale:

It wasn’t love at first sight, I’ll confess. I thought they were just okay. Like that guy who you kind of date a little because there’s nothing wrong with him but you’re not sure if it’ll work out?

They were a little rough, and plus I wasn’t really into blondes, at least not when it comes to my baskets. I wished they were darker. But get this: there were eleven of them at this yard sale. For a buck a piece! STEAL! So naturally I… offered less.

It’s a disease. I can’t help it.We took home ELEVEN of these baskets for EIGHT dollars. Isn’t that outrageous? I didn’t even know exactly what we’d use them for. I knew we had a few places in our house that needed closed storage, like on our office bookshelves and in the kids’ closets.

I hoped I could come up with some way to make them look better. Maybe cover in fabric? Maybe stain them? I wasn’t sure… but when I saw how perfectly they happened to fit in our office bookshelves, I knew…

…that this was meant to be. And that I would do whatever I could to change their appearance to fit my personal whims. (And this is where the love metaphor breaks down. Don’t read too deeply into it.)

1. Gather your supplies

I used a foam brush and minwax wood stain in dark walnut. One 32-oz can of wood stain worked for six baskets. No sandpaper. No polyurethane. Just stain and a brush. Then I started experimenting…

2. Brush on the stain.

I tried a few different methods here, so you can choose your own adventure. I didn’t sand these at all before I stained them, and it worked out a-okay.

Usually when you stain wood, you brush on the stain, let it sit, then wipe it off with a rag. The longer you let it sit, the darker the finish. I let my stain sit for about five minutes, then wiped it off.

Yeah… no. Not the look I wanted. It was dark in all the crevices with the blonde roots showing through where I wiped it.

So I reapplied the stain…

And didn’t wipe it off at all, ever. Just let it dry like this.

3. Allow to dry completely.

I waited for it to stop feeling sticky/tacky.

And waited…

And waited…

About 48 hours. Until it was totally dry. Took FOREVER. But I loved the shiny end result!

Tips for applying the stain:

Just glob it on. Get your foam brush wet and soak the basket so it gets in all the crevices. I set my basket on top of a paint can so I could stain around the bottom.

Wood stain is very thin and wet, so it’ll drip all over your floor, self, arms, walls and children. But sometimes you just have to make sacrifices.

Despite the appearances of that last photo, my left hand is not deformed. I mean seriously. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY FINGERS?(Small pause while I closely examine the skeletal structure of my hand for deformities.)

*(Relieved sigh.)*

Back to business. I wasn’t sure if you could stain wicker baskets, but it turns out you can. And they turn out great:

And for just a few minutes of work, you can take something that was just okay, fully functional and perfectly acceptable…

…like the guy you date because your biological clock is ticking and he appears to be capable of fathering healthy young…

…and manipulate it until it looks like you always wanted it to and remembers to do the dishes. Crap. Forget the metaphor again. Just look at the baskets.
Have you ever stained wicker? Do you believe in soulmates? Do you have any deformities you’d like to share?